5 November 1941. The Hollywood set adored Virginia Hill’s super-extravagance and everyone wanted to know where her money came from. A contemporary mimeographed sheet attached to the photo reads:
WATCH YOUR CREDIT
SLUG (VIRGINIA HILL)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO
LA BUREAU (X) ABC 27 669
HOLLYWOOD’S CHAMPION FREE-STYLE CURRENCY DISPENSER EXPLAINS ALL
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.: (ABOVE) Virginia Hill who told why she handles thousand dollar bills as if they were wrapping on cigaret packages. She also told how she got ’em. Thus she answered questions which have kept the glamour set in a dither ever since Virginia plunged into Hollywood society via a $7500 champagne splash she paid for at the Mocambo, a couple of months ago. She explained that she has been married two times and both husbands had money. The first marriage to George Brown down in Alabama didn’t last any longer than a good rumba tune, but I got a big settlement, she said. Her second marriage to Ossie Griffin, Alabama Football star, ended in an ’nulment and she got some more money, she added. She said she just likes to see people have fun. She also bought herself a New York night club for $40,000, just to keep it from going out of business and gave her third husband, after they split up, a job, to show there were no hard feelings. Her 3rd husband was Carlos Valdez, Mexican dancer, a fun loving chap, she said. 11-5-41w. pm
The back of the photo is also stamped in ink with an International News Photos copyright notice and ‘NOV 12 1941.’ This is likely the date the photo arrived at a newspaper library – a week after the caption on the slug.
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